Drawing upon decades of experience, RAND provides research services, systematic analysis, and innovative thinking to a global clientele that includes government agencies, foundations, and private-sector firms.

The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PRGS.edu) is the largest public policy Ph.D. program in the nation and the only program based at an independent public policy research organization—the RAND Corporation.

Female Populations

Violence against women is a persistent problem around the world. That's particularly true of Papua New Guinea, where abuse of women by domestic partners, gang members, and members of law enforcement is widespread, drawing comparisons to conditions in conflict zones.

The Syrian conflict has been the main contributor to the largest refugee crisis since the 1994 Rwandan genocide—and the problem can be expected to get worse as the fighting continues. Small steps are being taken to meet the needs of women refugees but more needs to be done.

The goal of this study was to better understand the predictive relationship in both directions between negative (anger, sadness) and positive (happiness) moods and alcohol consumption using daily process data among heavy drinkers.

According to India's 2011 census, 89 percent of the nation's rural population lives in households that lack toilets. This absence of proper sanitation presents public health challenges and affects Indian women disproportionately.

An effort to address atrocities against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo has fallen short of advocates' hopes for justice. With its focus on criminal prosecution, the strategy failed to consider the weak infrastructure of the judicial system, left victims' needs unmet, and did little to address prevention.

Women veterans are telling their stories, adding to the tales of war and homecoming that men have been recording from the Odyssey and Iliad on. Their diverse voices can deepen our understanding of the fastest-growing segment of the veteran population.

With the United Nations 2014 International Women's Day theme being “Equality for Women is Progress for All,” it is a time to reflect on progress made, raise awareness of the struggles that women and men still face, and consider how best these challenges could be addressed.

High-quality routine care for both cardiovascular disease and diabetes is at least as relevant to women's health and survival as it is to men's. Yet evidence suggests that women continue to face gaps in even low-cost, routine aspects of care.

Friday is National Wear Red Day, when people are asked to wear red to raise awareness about the health risks women face from heart disease. Too little attention is devoted to preventing heart disease in women and improving the quality and outcomes of their care.

Early puberty and friends' deviance may increase the risk of problem behavior in young adolescent girls. Although many of these associations dissipate over time, early-maturing girls are at risk of persistently higher delinquency and stronger negative peer influences.

Using a panel data set of 165 countries and terrorism data from 1980 to 2007, we find that terrorist attacks decrease female labor force participation and increase the gender gap between male and female labor force participation.

Senior Pentagon officials announced today that by 2016, women will be allowed to join front-line combat roles, including infantry, armor, and special operations. RAND has conducted research on the evolving roles of women in the military and has several experts available to discuss the DoD's policies.

The RAND African First Ladies Fellowship aims to help first ladies and their staffs develop skills for managing an effective first lady's office and learn practical policy-analysis techniques. Over a two-year period, first ladies and fellows will develop and implement a plan to address one of their nation's top challenges, such as maternal and child health, women's issues or education.

The empirical literature documenting the impact of labor market regulation on employment in middle- and upper-income countries is extensive and long-standing. What little data there is for low-income countries suggests regulations have a negative effect on formal employment.

Reliable birth control contributed to economic development by reducing women's risk of dropping out of school associated with early childbearing and high fertility rates, contributing in turn to increases in women's labor force participation, the continuity of their careers, and the standard of living of women, children and families, writes Chloe Bird.

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Researcher Spotlight

Associate Behavioral & Social Scientist

Karen Flórez obtained her doctorate from the Department of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health. Trained in both qualitative and quantitative methods, she has applied this mixed methodological skill-set to explore sociocultural factors affecting the health…

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